Retribution
by Polarchica516
Summary: Sequel to "Favors". Buffy and the gang begin to prepare for the end of days when the First makes its move. Timeline of season 7.
1. Welcome to Sunnydale

Title: Retribution

Rating: T (maybe some M later on)

Pairing: B/S

Summary: Roughly one year after Favors (beginning of Season 7), the First and Buffy prepare for the end of days.

Disclaimer: I do not own anybody, except for Finley. Joss Whedon will forever be my hero.

**A/N: Please favorite and follow so you can receive emails when I post new chapters and review if you can! I love the feedback. **

**Chapter One: Welcome to Sunnydale**

Finley Jamison-Smythe wasn't too excited about headed towards another Hellmouth. She pressed her forehead against the bus window and closed her eyes when she saw the sign.

Welcome to Sunnydale.

There should have been a sense of relief that she had reached her destination. Instead it felt like there was ball of lead in her stomach.

She caught her reflection, trying to ignore the fact she hadn't slept in days. Or eaten in two. She had hitchhiked out of Ohio until she had robbed some poor guy for bus fare. The hitchhiking part wasn't hard at all. Finley's long curly red hair and green eyes made her pretty easy bait.

She was sixteen when she had been called to be a Slayer and it seemed like the last year and half was a blur. Despite that, the last three days were as vivid as they ever would be.

They had broken into her home she shared with her watcher, Magdalene. The robed men never spoke and attacked so quickly that Finley hadn't seen the curved blade slice her watcher's throat behind her. By time she had killed the deformed man who had attacked her, the one who had slain Magdalene had escaped. Finley had been informed the week before that girls had been murdered all over the world by men who had looked like these. The men with scarred faces and gashes for eyes. Madgalene had smiled at her gently, assured her that it would be OK. That they were safe.

She had lied.

Finley didn't want to stick around and wait for another watcher. The honest truth was that she was terrified they would return for her. She had swiftly packed her belongings and left, finding an address written down in Magdalene's room by her jewelry. At first Finley had been surprised when she recognized the name. Buffy Summers.

Women like that used to be fables to her. Her father, Merrick, had left her mother when she was very young. Her mother was never very tactful especially when she was drunk. Finley she was an accident and her father had left to "protect her" but her mother never really believed that. After her mother had died when she was twelve, Magdalene showed up out of nowhere to take care of her. She claimed she and her father had been very close friends before he had confided in her about his only child.

Magdalene had never lied to her. She had told Finley that she had fire inside of her and so she could be trusted with the truth. Her father had been a Watcher, a well respected one who had trained and lost five slayers. He had died protecting the sixth charge-the one and only Buffy Summers. Finley grew up reading Watchers' journals, including her father's. She had trained in martial arts and magics.

A year and half ago, Buffy Summers had died and Magdalene had been finally honored with being a Watcher. But her excitement was bittersweet when she learned that Finley was her Slayer.

The bus came to a halting stop and Finley gripped her backpack as nerves came over her. This was the only place she could think to go. The elderly bus driver looked at her, concern etched on his face.

"Miss, do you have someone meeting you? This town gets dangerous at night."

Finley laughed. "I can handle myself. But thank you. Actually could you point me in the direction of the high school?"

He gave her directions and watched her warily as she exited the bus. Finley walked the streets of this strange town for awhile before she felt someone behind her. She rotated quickly, her fists up to guard her face only to find a familiar face looking back at her. She instantly relaxed.

" I'm breaking and entering _into_ a school," she quipped. "I guess there's a first for everything."

Magdalene fell into step with her as the high school came into view. "We need to close the seal. It's the only way you'll be safe. It gives those men who killed me their power."

Finley's eyes burned with tears for moment but she quickly pushed them away. "I need to use my blood. I got it."

With a renewed purpose, Finley strode to a window to break into. The First briefly smiled with satisfaction when her back was turned. Sometimes things just worked out so perfectly. Finley effortlessly made her way to the basement following the instructions she had been given. She paused at the door after she descended the steps. She bit her lip nervously.

"Maggie, I don't know if I can do this. This place...it feels-"

The door flung open and two Bringers reached out to grab the young girl to pull her into the room roughly. Finley fell onto the dirt and looked up to her watcher in confusion.

"Like a trap?" The First mocked. "You mortals are so damn emotional. Your dead Watcher reaching out to you from the beyond to protect you even after death..."

She barked in laughter. Tears streamed down Finley's face as the two Bringers took advantage of her shock and held her down. The larger one dug a sharp knife into her gut. Finley screamed in agony when he withdrew the blood stained knife. She curled into a fetal position. The Bringer turned her onto her back then pushed the young girl onto the seal. Her blood seeped onto the mural before it began to glow. Finley managed enough strength to roll off of the seal as it began to open.

The Bringers looked to the First for the next step.

"It's fine boys," she said. "I don't want to fully open it yet. I just need a playmate until I get some things lined up. Something to distract the Slayer and her group of dimwits."

The five points of the seal rose and a soft light filled the room. Finley shut her eyes, almost succumbing to the pain in her midsection. When she opened them the light was gone and the most vicious creature she had ever laid eyes on was coming towards her.

"No!" The First commanded. The Turok Han stopped in its tracks despite its practically salivating over the blood spilled before him. "I need you to go with the men with the creepy faces for now. Leave her here."

The creature growled at Finley but obeyed. The First knelt next to Finley. "Sweet girl, I'm not going to kill you. The last thing I need is another Slayer called. What I do need is for you to bring a message to Buffy."

Finley managed enough strength to ask, "What?"

Everything in her body was burning. Then The First, wearing the face of her psuedo-mother, whispered into her ear before Finley lost consciousness.


	2. People Die Here

**A/N Love the alerts and favorites. Always appreciate the reviews. Hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

**Chapter One: People Die Here**

"Buffy! I'm about to kill Faith! Is that a problem?"

Dawn raced down the hallway before pounding on Buffy's door with a frantic urgency. She didn't get any response and stomped in frustration. "I'm serious! You can kick her ass for me right? Dammit, Buffy! Open the-sweet baby Jesus!"

She had flung the door open to get an eyeful of Spike's naked butt on top of her sister. Dawn's hands flew to her eyes while Buffy scrambled out from under him. Spike threw his arms up in frustration before flopping on the now empty bed and pulling up the covers to cover his lower half. "Lil' Bit, it's called bloody knocking!"

Buffy was already clothed in a tank top and boy shorts and blushing furiously. An amused Faith came up behind a traumatized Dawn, her toothbrush still dangling in her hand. "She did knock. And she yelled. Nice tent, by the way, Blondie."

Spike smiled proudly before Buffy smacked him. "Do not respond to that," she warned. "Dawn, what do you want?"

"A time machine to undo what just happened and lots of therapy?" Dawn groaned. "And my sweater which Faith took even though I had washed it just for the first day of school. Which she got blood on!"

"First of all," Faith defended herself. "You can just take one of mine and school is stupid anyway."

Buffy glared at Faith. "School is _not_ lame. Besides it's a whole new school, hopefully with less evil things lurking around. Complain to me about school when hyena people eat your principal. "

"Or a sexy blonde vampire crashes your back to school night and you fight your instant attraction for him and then-omph! Love, you smack me one more time and I'm taking off this cover!" Spike growled.

Dawn rolled her eyes dramatically. "I hate all of you. You are _all _horrible people," and she stormed back into her room. Buffy could hear her rummaging in her closet. She narrowed her eyes at Faith who held her hands up.

"Look, I didn't know it was a fucking _special_ sweater!"

"First day of high school outfits are important," Buffy sighed. "Despite your personal love of leather pants and tight tank tops. Which is _not_ an option for Dawn."

"Just because you've outgrown your short skirt high school phase, you think you're a fashionista now?"

"You realize Dawn is doomed if we're the grown ups around here," Spike sighed.

Faith looked insulted for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, she's pretty screwed. Speaking of screwing," she said slyly. "I'm gonna leave you two alone now. At least one of us is getting ass around here."

Once the door was closed, Buffy released a frustrated sigh. "That killed the mood."

Spike wiggled his eyebrows. "You don't have to drive Dawn for another half hour."

Buffy smiled and came over the bed. "Half hour isn't nearly enough time," she purred. "But when I get back, you owe me."

"Thought English and stuffy was coming later," Spike inquired casually.

"Yeah, Giles got word that Potentials and their guardians were getting killed. Watchers are disappearing too. Since the Council cut us off, we're a little late to the party but the new Slayer is missing."

Spike seemed concerned. "The First?"

"Seems too large scale for low level baddies."

Buffy had spent every day since the First came to visit her in the basement on edge. It hadn't returned and evil on the Hellmouth had actually quieted due to Buffy's new found powers and Faith being around as well. Giles and Anya were doing very well at the Magic Box and he had moved into an apartment nearby. Xander and Anya had committed to postponing the wedding until Willow returned. Except that Willow hardly talked to the group anymore, even Xander. But Giles had reports from Oz that she was practicing only good magic. She had refused to return after her initial rehabilitation and even enrolled in school in England. Buffy figured having her as far away as possible was the best thing but this seemed to be the time to really address the issue she had been happily avoiding.

Spike watched Buffy worry before he gestured for her to come back into bed. She bit her lip and leaned into his chest while over the covers. He kissed her forehead while his hand gripped hers. "There's going to be apocalypse if Dawn doesn't find a proper outfit. First day of school is important to girls for some reason," he tried to tease her. She looked up at him, her lips curving into a small half smile.

"I blew up _both_ my high schools. How bad can it be?"

Buffy and Spike heard Dawn and Faith yelling again and groaned. Buffy had actually agreed to Dawn patrolling with them every once in awhile. Buffy was fast enough to keep anything from really harming Dawn. However, that meant the three girls spent a good amount of time together and Faith and Dawn fought worse than Buffy and Dawn did.

Buffy patted Spike's hand. "Put some clothes on. I think we need to referee this one."

While Spike dressed, his back was turned and he nervously asked, "Are you going to talk to Giles about...you know?"

When he was faced her, Buffy looked uncomfortable. "Not my favorite topic to bring to him but we need to know what you're getting into. What it might do to you."

"Or you," Spike added.

Buffy saw that a glimmer of hurt danced across his face and her heart seized. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and he buried his face in her neck. "I love you," she whispered. "Even if we can't, it doesn't change that. I don't need this to validate what we have. Do you?"

"No, I don't," Spike lied. But he couldn't help but wonder if Buffy's hesitation wasn't just about the unknown side effects. There was a reason he had never brought the issue of claiming up with Drusilla. Mostly because, in a way, he knew she didn't belong to him. But he knew Buffy did. His demon was getting restless without the claim and it was growing harder for him to not press the issue.

He felt her withdraw from the embrace and tried to ignore his doubts.

* * *

Buffy, Faith, and Dawn were driving to the new high school. Somehow the solution to the problem was to let Dawn burrow Buffy's clothes but Dawn seemed to be calmer now. As they approached the school, there was a crowd of concerned parents and students surrounding an area secured by yellow police tape.

"This school's slogan should be 'People die here'," Faith said dryly.

Buffy parked to the side away from the crowd. "Let's check it out."

They managed to force themselves through the crowd. Dawn was talking to another girl who seemed to be excited that school was cancelled for two days since they found a girl in the hallway. Dawn tossed Buffy a concerned frown and Buffy watched as a young girl with red hair was escorted to the ambulance. She heard a man's voice booming from her right.

"I'm Robin Wood. I know this isn't the best foot to start on, but I'm the new principal. I'm sorry but for the safety of the students, I'm going to have to close the school until this matter is settled. Please go home."

Faith whistled next to her. "Now if he was principal when I was at Sunnydale-"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Let's not share with the class, OK? Take Dawn home and I'm staying with the girl."

"B, not every dead person that turns up is because of the First," Faith warned. "This could be anything."

But Buffy was already making a beeline for the principal. He was getting in the ambulance when she caught up with him. "What happened?" Buffy asked gruffly.

Robin raised an amused eyebrow at the demanding blonde. "And you are?"

"A concerned parent. Overly concerned if anything."

Robin seemed to chuckle for a brief moment under his breath. His eyes seemed to take her in with a curious interest. "I found this young lady in the hallway. She was stabbed and barely breathing."

The EMT began to struggle to restrain Finley as she began to jerk on the gurney. Buffy could see he was going to lose this battle so she easily pinned the girl down by her shoulders while the EMT gave her a surprised look. "Who is she?" Buffy growled at the young man.

"I don't know. I asked her what her name was but she keeps saying 'get Buffy'. Hell if I know what that means," and he left the gurney to begin to open the ambulance doors. Buffy's eyes met the green eyes of the panicked girl who had stopped trying to get out of her restraints.

"I'm Buffy."

The girl's eyes grew wide and she took an almost relieved breath. Her hand reached up to grip Buffy's forearm and Buffy released her hold on her shoulders. She reached up with a shaking hand and pulled off her oxygen mask.

"Fin...ley," she choked out. She attempted a pained smile and licked her dry lips. "Slayer."

The EMT returned and eyed Buffy warily. "I have to take her to the hospital."

"I'm coming," Buffy said with an expression and tone that left for no objections.

* * *

Finley had floated into an unconscious state halfway to the hospital. Buffy still wasn't sure about the situation as it wasn't clear if this mystery girl knew Buffy was the Slayer or if she was trying to say she was the missing Slayer. Buffy held her hand the entire time and decided to interpret the calm demeanor of her demon as an indication the girl wasn't a threat. Buffy just had to pray she made it long enough for her to get a chance to be healed with Buffy's blood. She had managed to tell the doctors and nurses she was Finley's cousin. If anything could be said about Sunnydale's doctors and police force is that asking questions led to less answers or more information then you never really wanted to know.

Finally, Buffy was alone with Finley as the nurses had gone to schedule her surgery. She quickly modified the IV so that her blood mixed with Finley's. She kept her senses hyper alert to listen for anyone coming in. Finley began to regain color in her cheeks and her eyes flew open. They darted around the room frantically before landing on Buffy.

"Where is she?" she whispered, still a bit groggy.

"Who?"

Finley blinked a few times and her hands pulled up her gown to reveal the blood soaked gauze wrapped around her abdomen. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and a flash of disappointment and grief flashed in her deep green eyes. "I'm not dead?"

"I'm Buffy. We need to get you out of here before people notice how unstabby you are."

Finley wasted no time and began to extract herself from the medical devices. "They'll come back for me," she moaned, her voice cracked with genuine fear. She darted out of the bed and paused for a moment when the expected pain or stiffness didn't come. "How am I not all stabby again?"

Buffy approached her carefully. "I did that. I'll explain later. But _who_ is after you?"

"They don't have eyes. They killed my Watcher! I came here and find you and Faith. Look, I'll tell you everything but we need to leave right the hell now," she growled. She was so hurried as she rushed to the door that she almost swung at Buffy when she was pulled her behind her suddenly. She gasped at the speed in which Buffy had relocated her and from behind Buffy she saw her crouch slightly as she discretely sniffed the air.

"Someone is coming," Buffy whispered. "It's human," she clarified when she heard Finley's sharp intake of breath, hoping that would calm her for the moment. The door opened and Robin came in to find two very suspicious Slayers glaring at him.

"That's the guy who found me," Finley whispered.

"Is there a reason why you're putting the extra pal in principal today?" Buffy asked him gruffly. Robin sensed her defensive stance and tone and realized he needed to come clean.

"I'm going to shoot straight here. My mom was a Slayer. I know who you are, Buffy. _All_ of it," he emphasized. "I'm here to help."

He watched as Buffy's eyes gaze raked over him, almost as if she was sizing him up as prey. Her body language shifted as she seemed less on guard and she grabbed Finley's hand turning to face her. "Stay behind me."

Buffy approached Robin and gave him a steely glare. "Whoever you are, you can either get outta my way or come with us. I'm making all kinds of new friends today. Lovely."


	3. I Know Slayers

**Chapter Two: I Know Slayers**

Thanks to Sunnydale Hospital's stellar security, it wasn't hard to get Finley out of the hospital. She was uncertain if she could really trust Robin for the moment. However, he had a car and Buffy didn't think Finley seemed up to walking all the way back to her house. While she was physically alright, there was a disconnect that Buffy sensed immediately. Her guard was all the way up now and she was even masking her fear by avoiding eye contact. Buffy knew better than to underestimate her strength and despite being a Slayer herself she couldn't help but feel like Finley just so _young_.

Buffy sat with Finley in the back seat and gave Robin her address. She knew she could protect Finley from any imminent enemies but what Buffy felt the most helpless about was how Finley had seemed almost disappointed she had realized she had survived back at the hospital. It was a short drive and no one spoke for a while.

"My Watcher," Finley said suddenly her confused eyes meeting Buffy's. "That wasn't her, was it? I thought it was Maggie who-I'm so stupid."

Buffy's blood ran cold as she put two and two together. "You saw your Watcher after she was killed?"

Finley scowled and nodded. Her entire body flushed in frustration and she clenched her fists. It was no longer coming to her in fragments and the crystal clear memory was of 'Maggie' taunting her as she had laid bleeding.

"The First can take the form of any dead person," Buffy said slowly. "It's how it messes with people."

"It used me," Finley whispered. "To let that _thing_ out."

Buffy wanted to ask more but placed her hand over Finley's tight fist. "We will figure this out. You just need to tell us everything that happened when we get back. You're safe with me."

Finley seemed confused. "Back in the hospital you were going to protect me. You still have your powers. You healed me."

"Yes," Buffy confirmed. "Now you know. The Council can't."

Finley took a deep breath. Her chest tightened as she was overcome with a feeling she was into something big now. "I have a secret too," she sighed. "I'm Merrick's daughter."

Finley watched as Buffy reacted to this news. First with surprise, then a glimmer of grief, and finally a haunted stare of guilt. "I didn't know he had a daughter."

"No one did," Finley sighed. "You probably spent more time with him than I did. He left us when I was young. I know he died while being your Watcher. To protect you like Maggie did for me."

"I'm sorry," Buffy whispered.

Finley shrugged. "It's all good."

"I still...," Buffy began.

"We're Slayers. If you say sorry or feel bad over every causality you just make it harder. Whatever we are up against, I'm going to kill it and make it painful."

From the mirror Buffy saw Robin smile in amusement and she raised an eyebrow at him. "You're all the same," he said almost affectionately. "Strong."

"You have no idea what I am," Buffy scowled. She saw them pull up to the house and caught Robin's curious gaze. He held hers for a brief moment while Buffy tried to really determine what was off about him. He was almost too confident and smooth and seemed to thoroughly enjoy having the upper hand for moment, knowing he hadn't told Buffy everything yet.

So Buffy was surprised when a fleeting pained look made his eyes darken. "I know Slayers."

* * *

Faith and Spike were peeking out of the curtains as the trio piled out of the car. "She brought the principal?" she mused aloud. "Do we still think this is the missing Slayer?"

Spike shrugged as they moved away from the now closed curtains. "Giles confirmed her Watcher is dead. Seemed to take it a bit to the heart. The girl matches the description he got from his watcher pal Robson."

"So all roads point to that being the baby Slayer?"

"Really shouldn't call her that," Spike warned. "You were that young once. Don't think you'd take kindly to someone underestimating you."

Faith seemed thoughtful for moment. "Giles seems to clean with glasses more than usual every time we find out more information. Whatever this girl knows-whatever that sexy principal has to do with this-it won't be good news. The deeper we get into this, the darker it gets."

Before Spike could respond, the door had opened. Giles had come in from the kitchen to join Faith and Spike as they took in these two new people with guarded suspicious expressions. While it didn't seem to faze Robin, it seemed to almost put Finley even more on edge.

"You've never seen a Slayer before?" she quipped. She crossed her arms, raising her eyebrow.

Giles seemed relieved. "I'm glad you are well. We believed you to be missing."

Buffy closed the door behind her. "That's my Watcher, Giles. Faith and Spike are the ones giving you the third degree. And this unexpected surprise next to me is Robin. His mom was a Slayer and thats pretty much all I know about him. See? Isn't this fun?"

"A bloody party," Spike mumbled under his breath.

"Maybe we should all just sit down and not stare Finley down," Buffy suggested. Although she was glad to see that spark in the girl, considering how much she had gone through in the last day. All her request did though was turn three very suspicious narrowing eyes to Robin behind her.

"Do we trust him?" Faith asked bluntly.

Robin seemed amused by her question. "I don't really have a good reason why you shouldn't."

"I thought baby Slayer got stabbed."

"I gave her my blood," Buffy explained. "How about Spike and Giles interrogate Mr. Principal in the kitchen and Faith and I will talk to Finley? Figure out what happened?"

Giles nodded, understanding that she still wasn't sold on trusting Robin completely and could use a second opinion. "Of course. Follow me."

As the boys headed towards the kitchen, Faith and Finley were still staring each other down. "I guess you're not really a people person," Finley said to Faith.

"No, I am. I just haven't decided if I like you or not yet," she responded with a straight face. Buffy rolled her eyes and the three Slayers went to the living room. Faith sat in the loveseat, crossing her arms while Finley and Buffy sat on the couch.

"First of all," Buffy said. "She's my ex-watcher's daughter. She's part of the group. I'm a fan of witty passive aggressive banter as much as the next girl, but is this going to be a problem?"

"No," they both said in unison in the exact same unconvincing tone.

"Whatever. Finley, I need you to tell me everything you remember. It's very important."

Finley took a deep breath. "Maggie and I got attacked. We had heard there had been attacks on girls all over the world and I might be a target. The Council wasn't really telling us a lot of information so Maggie and I did some investigating and discovered that the girls being murdered where potential Slayers and their guardians. We couldn't figure out who was behind it. Maggie decided we couldn't trust the Council anymore because they were withholding information and I had a vision about a the Seal of Danzalthar. Maggie and I were researching what that meant and where it was when they attacked us. They were men, I think-without eyes just markings where they should have been. They killed her and left me alive.

So I left and started to hitch hike. She had your address on her dresser. I'm not sure why but-then I saw Maggie when I was sleeping on a bench on night. She said I needed to close the seal with my blood so the attacks would stop. So I could be safe and-"

Finley shook her head in disgust, turning to Buffy with fiery eyes. "It wasn't her. You said as a First?"

"No," Buffy said carefully. "_The_ First."

"First what?"

"Evil."

"Well, whatever the hell it was-it led me to the seal and then the same men stabbed me. The seal opened and this monster crawled out. She told me to give you the message and left with that _thing._ I managed to get back up the hallway when Robin found me. Next thing I knew I was in the hospital and you were there. You healed me when your blood? How can you do that?"

"Before we get into that, I need you to try to draw the thing that came out and the seal. Also what those men looked like so Giles can do his research thing. They closed the school tomorrow so we're going to back to the seal together, OK?"

Faith was too quiet so Buffy gave her a questioning look. Her gaze had softened as she regarded Finley. Buffy felt stupid as she remembered Faith had come to Sunnydale under similar pretenses. "You can't tell the Council that Buffy healed you. In fact, we can't even tell them you're here. Otherwise they'll find out what Buffy is and we have bigger fish to fry right now."

Finley shrugged. "I'm ok with that. They aren't exactly my favorite people. I still remember Magdalene having to bring me to them so they could give me my powers."

She shuddered while Faith and Buffy exchanged confused looks. "What? That's not how you become a Slayer. It's automatic like...you just _become_ a badass."

Finley scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "They said having Buffy bought back and having her powers taken away made it funky so they had to do it this way."

The gang had managed to keep the Council in the dark about many of things. They were still running on the assumption Buffy never got her powers back. And any demon who saw Buffy in action didn't survive so it stayed that way. They had threatened to take further action if Faith crossed a line but seemed to accept her handling Sunnydale. A dark look crossed Buffy's face and she seemed appalled.

"Did they put something in you?"

"I don't remember much. They summoned something and then it just kinda went black but I woke up with powers."

Faith met Buffy's conflicting stare. "They can _make_ Slayers now?"

"Faith, can you get Finley some paper so she can draw these guys? I need to talk to Giles. And fill her in on everything."

Finley scowled. "I never really got past stick figures in school so don't have high expectations."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Don't worry I'll be watching the house tonight so nothing will be able to hurt you."

"It had a message for you. It's not enough. It told me to tell you that."

Faith saw Buffy's expression before she hid it from Finley. She narrowed her eyes at Buffy as she realized Buffy was keeping something from her. She was visibly perturbed by the relayed information and excused herself to check on the boys.

Buffy headed towards the kitchen but was met by the boys steering Robin towards the door. Robin saw Buffy and gave her a small smile. "I'm reporting back tomorrow morning. I guess I passed the test."

"That's right," Spike said too cheerfully. "We're all good pals now. Have a nice night."

Buffy was confused by Spike's behavior but said goodbye to Robin after letting him know they were going into the school to find the seal tomorrow. Robin seemed confused by his hurried exit but seemed satisfied he was in the loop. As soon as he left, all three said the same time, "We have a problem."

"Can you top that the Council manually made Finley a Slayer?" Buffy whispered harshly.

"Yes, I can. With a that's Nikki's Woods son!" Spike yelped.

"Am I missing something?"

Giles sighed. "Nikki Woods was one the two Slayers Spike killed."

"Since I'm not a pile of dust, I'm assuming the bloke doesn't know," Spike whispered almost angrily. "How could you bring him here?"

Buffy blinked at him for a few moments, taken aback by his anger towards her right now. "And somehow that hasty exit was supposed to keep him from being suspicious?" she hissed.

Dawn chose that moment to come downstairs. Faith had told her to stay upstairs until they had a better idea of what the situation was but Dawn was never too good with following orders. She saw Spike glaring at her sister and immediately grew concerned.

"What happened?" Dawn asked.

Spike just mumbled something and left the front of the house, storming through the kitchen and slamming the back porch door very loudly. Faith came towards a still confused Buffy when she heard the noise. "What happened to Spike?"

"Wood's mother was killed by Spike," Buffy whispered. "I didn't know. Should I go after him?"

"No," Faith sighed. "I'll take this one."

Buffy watched as Faith went after Spike before turning to Giles. "He didn't mean that. You couldn't have known," Giles said to her. "We just need to make sure he doesn't find out. When Robin arrives tomorrow he's bringing some supplies that may help us along with some information he's gathered about the First. He's an asset."

Buffy seemed unconvinced. "We're playing with Spike's safety here. I'm not liking that game. He has a chip that won't let him defend himself against Robin, remember? This stays between us. Not even Finley knows, got it?"

Giles agreed. She was not liking how this day had gone. The First had made its move and they were just piecing the puzzle together, a few steps behind at least. He knew had to discuss the inevitable with Buffy soon.

It was time for Willow to come home.


End file.
